Sears said: "I have expressed that I want to stay next season. As a West Ham fan I want to play for the club and relegation might give me a better opportunity to play week in, week out. There is probably more of an opportunity in the Championship than the Premiership.

"It could go one of two ways. I could play every game of the season or the new manager could come in and bring in new players. But hopefully we can keep some of the young boys and have a real go next year.

"We should try to keep as many players as we can, but it's going to be hard. The more senior players will probably move on, but hopefully we can keep a good core of players and have a real go next season."